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The aim of Navan Travellers Training Centre is to improve the education, job skills, craft skills, health, and personal development and cultural awareness of Travellers in Meath and surrounding areas.
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Navan Travellers Traing Centre,
Adult Education Centre,
Abbey Road,
Navan,
County Meath
Tel 353-4621778
Fax 353-469070619
Email navantc@eircom.net
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| Irish Travellers |
A common theory among experts is that Travellers have been a distinct
group within Ireland for at least 800 years, and probably
before, since itinerant metal workers (the traditional Traveller
trade) have been recorded in Ireland since pre-Christian times.
Travellers are a minority community, indigenous to Ireland,
and have existed on the margins of Irish society for centuries. They
share common descent, and have distinct cultural practices - early
marriage, desire to be mobile, a tradition of self-employment, and so
on. Traditionally, they were metal workers, hawkers, traders in horses
and used goods of all description, and provided services where and when
there were gaps in the market. Many today are market traders, scrap
collectors and work with voluntary and community organisations and
training centres. They have distinct rituals around the death of a
loved one, and have a language they only speak among their own (cant).
They live with their extended family groupings, often in mobile
homes, trailers on halting sites or in group housing schemes.
Travellers marry within their own community. Since they are a tiny
population, they often marry a relative. One cannot become a
Traveller. Many families tend to be nomadic but due to restrictions
from local authorities many are forced to settle in an area. There
are an estimated 30,000 Travellers currently living in the
Republic of Ireland.
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